CR to remain accredited; school officials breathe sigh of relief

College of the Redwoods will retain its accreditation, and the vital state and federal funding that comes with it, at least until October.

News that the college would be removed from "show cause" status and placed on the lesser sanction of "probation" came in a letter that arrived Wednesday from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges.

School officials have until Oct. 15 to submit a report back to the commission demonstrating continued progress toward meeting the standards for accreditation in the "important areas of non-compliance" that remain.

CR President Kathryn Smith said staff and faculty took time Wednesday to pause and celebrate the accomplishment.

"Everyone is happy," Smith said. "We weren't exactly sure what to expect. We could have been continued on show cause status, or have been moved to another sanction. Thankfully, we were moved up to probation -- it's a step up."

One year ago, the commission placed the college on a "show cause" status -- the commission's most severe sanction -- after the college failed to meet accreditation standards on a variety of recommendations.

Since that time, school officials have been hard at work, detailing how the college plans to meet accreditation standards moving forward. A report outlining those plans was submitted to the commission in October. Last month, Smith, CR Board of Trustees President Colleen Mullery and Special Trustee Tom Henry, appeared at a commission meeting to answer specific questions about the report.

In their letter, the commission acknowledged that CR officials had resolved several of the issues that initially led to the college being placed on show cause status, including inadequate assessment of student progress.

Although the news comes as a victory, the work is far from over.

CR will need to demonstrate continued progress in five areas the commission cited the campus as being non-compliant. A report from CR documenting that progress will be required by Oct. 15. The commission will then go through a similar process to decide whether to place the college on the less severe sanction of "warning," or leave the college on probation.

Two of the recommendations outlined by the commission require the college to create a hiring plan to increase equity and diversity among employees and a professional development program.

Smith said the remaining three recommendations, all of which regard the college's fiscal stability, will be more challenging to accomplish.

"CR has significant work to do over the next six months to a year to become fiscally stable," she said.

Smith said officials feel fortunate that the commission is not requiring the report until October.

"We feel that is a good message they are sending," she said. "If this were a real emergency situation, they could have asked for the report sooner."

As he waited for the bus on campus Wednesday, student Jon Brisco said he was glad to hear the news. In his second semester at CR, the 18-year-old said he had worried about what losing accreditation might mean for his out-of-state peers.

"It's fine for me, if I have to go somewhere else, but a lot of my classmates came from out of the area specifically to go here," he said. "What would have happened to them?"

Student Brian Bisconer agreed. After receiving his associate's degree from CR, Bisconer said he plans to transfer to Humboldt State University or possibly out of state.

"So, I can keep going here until then?" the 26-year-old asked. "Yes, that's definitely good news."